ARC Review: Hear the Crickets by B. J. Sheldon

 

Title: Hear the Crickets

Author: B. J. Sheldon

Genres: Fantasy, romance, science fiction, young adult

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press

Publication Date: January 17, 2016

Page Count: 301

 
Skyy’s a freak. She’ll tell you so herself. Her past – a mystery. Her future – uncertain. Having spent most of her life avoiding humans in an effort to conceal her wings, she wants nothing more than to end it all, leaving behind the solitary life she’s been forced to live. But numerous attempts to die have proven immortality is both a curse and a nuisance. She now lives out her days in self-imposed seclusion to stay hidden from the world. But that quiet way of life is shattered when mysterious siblings arrive and reveal a destiny which sends her running for the hills. When an earth shattering discovery is made in the Badlands, history and science collide furthering the mystery behind Skyy’s past – and her future. Skyy will need to embrace her fate and confront an evil so ancient, only a miracle can keep the world from ceasing to be.

Rating: 4/5

I was sent an e-ARC of this book in return for an honest review--and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book very much. (I'm not sure why, maybe just because I've had bad experiences with ARCs in the past.... Huh.)

Boy did this book pleasantly surprise me! I mean this book made me feel a plethora of emotions. For Pete's sake, it had me crying at one am. Yeah, that's right guys. This book had me up until the wee hours of the morning. (This hasn't happened since Queen of Shadows.) I just got surprisingly attached to the characters and wanted to know what would happen to them! So let's talk about them, starting with,

Skyy. I enjoyed Skyy as a main character. She's bitter and sassy and everything you could hope for in a 300 year old girl with wings. (Hah, I shocked you guys there, didn't I?) But it was refreshing to see this more realistic take on how the 'I'm different than everyone else' trope could really affect the main character. Not to mention, her razor-sharp wit was hilarious!

Next up, 

  

Sean. Sean was actually my favorite character. In fact, he kind of reminded me of myself; nerdy and sassy. He kind of reminded me of Simon from The Mortal Instruments if you added years of age and made him own a comic book store. Point is, he was great. He grew on you throughout the story. (Kind of like how he grew on Skyy--like mold!)

Now onto,

Dorian.  Okay, we can all imagine my reaction to discovering a guy named Dorian in a book other than Throne of Glass. (If you can't, just picture a teenage girl throwing her phone onto the couch, squealing, and waving her arms around like a t-rex. Got that image in your head? Yes? Okay, that's me.) Let's just say he was completely swoon-worthy and I absolutely loved reading about him. And then there's Dorian's sister,

Lillith. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved Lillith. I thought the way the author developed her and expressed her character was brilliant! And she also reminded me of one of my all-time favorite characters, Liraz, from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. However, she was extremely annoying and bratty at times. (All part of the wonderful character development though!) After sitting down and analyzing her character I realized that there was so much depth to her, and, just, ugh. It took real skill to create a character like her!

Moving on!

Writing. I was, once again, pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the writing in this book! It was fast-paced and addicting, while still managing to be very descriptive.

And then, finally,

Plot. The plot to this book was very interesting. It had its own mythology to center the story, which, to me, made it stand out from other angel-centered fiction. The story was well paced and intriguing. All around, it was a very well done novel! The reason that I felt I couldn't give it the full 5 stars was because I found some elements of the plot to be rather predictable, especially one of the plot twists that I think were meant to be 'holy crap' worthy. (However, there were a couple plot twists that made me drop my phone, so make of this what you will.) Another problem I did have was that a few things felt rather forced, as if they were simply added in to get the plot moving along faster.

I did, however, really enjoy this novel! (Obviously, haha.) Also, that ending. Not a cliffhanger exactly, but definitely leaving me dying for the next book in the series! (I need to check for the release date, hmmmm....)

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed City of Bones/The Mortal Instruments or Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

(Before I sign off, I have to say I'm feeling a bit guilty. I promised myself I'd try to make my reviews shorter and therefore easier for people to read quickly, and here I am with one of my longest reviews. Whoops!)

Cheers!

Leah